1 killed, 4 injured including an infant in Little Village crash

May 06, 2010

A 36-year-old man is facing charges after he sped through stop signs this afternoon at a high rate of speed in the Little Village neighborhood and plowed into a vehicle carrying an infant, a man and two women, one of whom was killed, police said.

Scene of a crash on 30th Street in the Little Village neighborhood. (Tribune / Zbigniew Bzdak)

Witnesses told police the man had been driving a Nissan Quest van at a very high rate of speed for about three or four blocks where he passed through several stop signs until he hit a silver Kia on the 3500 block of West 30th Street carrying the women, the man and the infant, said Ogden District Police Lt. Ken Sahnas.

Witnesses said the Kia was at a stop sign going eastbound on 30th and was about to pull away when it was rear-ended with such force that the car spun around and hit a parked Ford Escort. Skid marks could be seen just west of Drake Avenue.

A woman about 47-50, who is believed to be the mother of the man, was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 2:26 p.m., officials said.

A man in his late teens or early 20s who may be her child was taken to the same hospital in critical condition, where his condition was upgraded Sahnas said.

A 10-month-old boy was at Mount Sinai along with his 47-year-old grandmother, who had been listed in critical condition, he said. The woman had to be extricated from the car, he said.

A Mount Sinai spokeswoman said the infant and his grandmother both had been stabilized and their conditions were upgraded tonight to fair.

A neighbor and relative of the injured woman identified the dead woman as Alicia Pedroza.

Pedroza was driving her daughter's car containing her son Juan, who has cerebral palsy, her friend Santa Sierra, 47, and Sierra's infant grandson, Luis Armando Ramirez, according to Sierra's daughter-in-law, Erika Revilla.

Revilla, who lives across the street from Pedroza, said she learned of the accident from police who arrived at the dead woman's house.

Pedroza was remembered as a popular fixture in the community who spent every waking moment caring for her disabled son.

"Basically her life was just to take care of her son," said Revilla, who believed the son was in his 20s.

Pedroza also organized a block party every summer.

"She knows all (of) the neighbors. She was always really friendly with everybody," Revilla said.

Jorge Cortez, who lives on Drake just south of the crash scene, joined neighbors outside after hearing the sound of the collision.

"To me, it sounded like the slamming of a steel fence," Cortez said.

When he got outside, he saw the wreckage and the victims, including the woman who died.

"It's sad that a lady had to lose her life," Cortez said. "Maybe now they'll put in speed bumps."

Cortez saw a few men hold down the driver of the Nissan Quest until police arrived.

The driver of the vehicle that drove into the car with the children was not authorized to take the car, which belonged to a family member, and had to be tasered and subdued after the accident, police said. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital.

Five ambulances were called to the accident which happened at about 1:52 p.m., according to a spokesman with the Chicago Fire Department. Crews secured the accident at 2:20 p.m., officials said.